Well that’s another fine mess Formula 1 has got itself into.

For a sport already plagued by controversy, rule changes, bitter team feuds and unhappy drivers, the last thing it needed was a complete debacle of a race in America.

But that’s exactly what it got.

The sight of a grand prix starting with just six cars was as unprecedented as it was unwanted. And the 100,000 spectators who had paid good money to watch it were left feeling ripped off if not downright robbed.

As you are probably more than aware by now the problem on Sunday stemmed from the fact that all the teams which use Michelin tires boycotted the race on safety grounds.

After completing the formation lap 14 cars drove back into the pits leaving just the Bridgestone-using cars to start – two Ferraris, two Jordans and two Minardis. Hardly the line-up of dreams.

From that point on the race was a farce and the crowd made their feelings quite clear by booing the entire 73 laps of what must surely go down as the most bizarre race in F1 history.

Apparently the Michelin-based teams wanted a chicane introducing at the spot where Ralf Schumacher crashed in practice in order to slow down the race and protect their tires... and their drivers.

However, the sport’s governing body refused and last minute negotiations failed to reach any sort of compromise. It would be easy to point fingers at the FIA and say they should have relaxed the rules to save the race.

It would be equally easy to blame the Bridgestone-based cars for taking part in such a pointless contest. And it would be just as easy to have a go at Ferrari for not agreeing to the chicane when the other nine teams did.

But the real finger of blame needs to be pointed at Michelin. We are not talking about a small corner shop here but a huge corporation with a multi-billion dollar turnover who got their job quite spectacularly wrong.

They have known that the US grand prix was coming up from the start of the year and they have also known about the new rules which limit the number of tires a car can use during a race weekend.

On that basis alone they should not have put themselves in a position where their tires were not up to the demands of the race itself. They should have had all the different types of tire they needed in America long before the race weekend.

It would have been ludicrous to change the rules to accommodate the tires and Michelin and the teams using them were extremely naive to think that may happen.

One certainty is that this whole incident will have left an extremely bitter taste in the mouths of American F1 fans who forked out their hard earned cash to watch a pathetic sham of a ‘race’.

For a sport already struggling with too many rule changes and dwindling popularity this complete farce was exactly not what the doctor had ordered.

It remains to be seen whether F1 will be able to recover from this particular blow, certainly in North America where fans are still dubious about the sport in comparison to their own Kart racing.

If there is one hope of rescuing the situation it lies with Michelin. If they can accept the blame and offer some form of compensation to the fans who turned up then maybe, just maybe, the sport may survive in the USA.

Otherwise what we witnessed on Sunday was not a race but a funeral procession.

The Premiership

Promotion to the Premiership is supposed to be one of the greatest things that could ever happen to a club. And in Wigan’s case it probably is.

Sadly it has not all been glory and joy at the JJB since Paul Jewell’s men clinched their shot at the top league.

Although the club has got money to spend, and plenty of it apparently, their transfer cheque book is still very much a big time virgin.

“Since we’ve won promotion I’ve had five or six knock backs from established Premiership players who don’t want to come here at the moment,” a depressed Jewell admitted.

Amongst these are believed to be the likes of Robbie Keane, Scott Parker and Darren Bent, who have all decided that Wigan’s hopes of top flight survival are not that high.

For Jewell it is one heck of a catch 22. If he doesn’t attract the top players to the club, their chances of staying up are limited and with limited chances of staying up, it’s impossible to attract top players to the club.

What he needs is one big name to take the plunge, one established star to decide the move is a gamble worth taking, then the others will follow.

And I sincerely hope it works out for Wigan as I very much like the way they play football and the way Jewell manages his team.

As they stand they will be a worthy addition to the Premiership. All they need now is a few stars to help them stay there.

Contact James on: [email protected]